Improvement in operating street-car doors



D. S H I ELD.

Operating Street-Car Door.

Patented 0ct.H,18 75.

UNITED STATES DAVID SHIELD, OF CAMBRIDGE CITY, IND.', ASSIGNOR OFTHEEE-FOURTHS HIS RIGHT TO INDIANA CAR COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPRCVEMENT IN OPERATING STREET-CAR DOORS.

specificatlon forming part of Letters Patent No. 168,79 1, dated October11, 1875 application filed June 15,1875.

- ments in Devices for Opening and Closing the Doors of Street-Cars, ofwhich the following is a specification I My invention relates to certainimproved devices combined with street-cars, whereby the driver orconductor can readily and easily open or close the doors of the carwithout leaving their respective stands on the car.

In the accompanying drawing, making a part of this specification, Figure1 represents an end of a street-car constructed so as to embody myinvention, and Fig. 2 represents an end of a street-car containing amodification of my invention.

The ordinary street-car, designated by letter A, is provided with asliding door or doors, E. The doors are arranged to slide open or shutin any desirable way. From the bottom of the car depends an arm, B, atwhose lower end is pivoted one end of a lever, C. The other end of thislever C is pivoted to thelower end of a lever, D, the upper end of thislastnamed lever being pivoted at a to the outer edge of the slidingdoor.

In Fig. l, a lever, H, is pivoted at one end to lever D, at a point, b,between the bottom of lever D and the bottom of the car. This lever Hlies in about the same vertical plane as lever C. The upper side of thisend of lever H, which is not pivoted to lever D, is provided with aratchet, which latter engages with a semicircular ratchet, orratchet-segment, N, fastened to and rotated by a shaft,

1, which latter is supported by and turns in the arm B, and, whendesired, turns also in another arm attached to the bottom of the car ata suitable distance from the arm B. The shaft I is operated by means ofa treadle, as shown in Fig. 2, attached at its lower extremity to theshaft I, and projecting up through and above the bottom of the car asufficient distance to be appropriately oper ate v In Fig. 2 thearrangement of levers and mechanism is substantially the same as in Fig.l, the actual differences being that the end of lever H, which is, inthe mechanism shown in Fig. 1, provided with ratchet-teeth, is hereconstructed without ratchet-teeth, and is pivoted to the lower end of anarm, N, which latter takes the place of the ratchet-segment N shown inFig. 1, and is rigidly attached to the shaft I. The shaft I is operatedby the treadle or hand-lever in the manner aforementioned.

The mode in which my invention operates is as follows, viz: The operatorthat is, the

driver or the conductor ofthe car -.sh.ould the door be open, (see Figs.1 and 2 of drawing,) moves the hand-lever M to the left, thus turnin gshaft I, which latter turns ratchet-segment H, and thereby movesfltheratchet'lever E to the right. The latter, in moving, draws the upper endof the lever D over to the right,

and lever D moves with it the door E, and thus closes the latter. Whenthe treadle is used, the foot is employed instead of the hand to turnthe shaft I.

In case the ratchet-segment N and the ratchet-teeth on lever H aredispensed with, and the mechanism is that shown in Fig. 2,

the shaft I, when rotated by thetreadle or hand-lever, in turn moves thelever N to the right, thereby drawing the lever H and lever D, and thedoor E, to the right, thus closing the latter. To open the door theoperation is reversed.

One of the most important features of my invention is the combination ofthe fixed fulcrum B, lever C, and lever D, the latter, t. 6., lever D,being pivoted to the door, and actuated by any suitable mechanismcontrolled and operated by the driver or conductor.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a car-door the lever D, lever C, pivoted to afixed fulcrum, lever H, lever N, and a hand or foot lever, substantiallyas and for the purposes set forth.

2. In combination with a car-door, the lever D and lever C, the lever Cpivoted to a fixed fulcrum, and the lever D to a moving adjustablefulcrum, and operated by mechanism under the control of the driver orconductor, as may be desired.

DAVID SHIELD.

Attest J NO. MCMILLAN, GEo. A. HUNT.

